Christmas-2014

Well Christmas time rolled around again and, like it manages to do every year, it brought with it rapping paper, Christmas lights, smiles and NO SNOW! Well oh well, I'm of the opinion that you can have a very Merry Christmas without snow.

Us 6 all together again. Boy, it makes me want to cry when I think about us all growing up and moving out.

The dog enjoying one of her gifts.

Mommy and Robert

And just for you all a set of photos of what we call, "the looks" it's that time right after you see what the gift is...

Mine

Joseph's

Tirzah's

Poppie's

Robert's

Thomas'

Ian's

And Mommy's

Afterwards we enjoyed lago building together, from the youngest...

to the oldest.

And at the end of the wonderful day we sat down for a wonderful Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas one and all!!!!

Remembering WWII: Living History, Education and Honor

In September of 2014, our family was able to volunteer for the first ever Remembering WWII reenactment here in Linden Tennessee. Seeing that the family putting it on also worship at church with us we had the chance to help out in several areas. It was super awesome to get to be a part of this event, from the costumes to the decorations to the vets stories to the battles I don't think there are many times I've enjoyed myself more.

It started on Friday with finishing the decorations and a lot of set up. We ended the day with a showing of Desperate Journey (Errol Flynn; Ronald Reagan) in the camp just outside of the square. 

The next morning at 8:00 am the square was starting to bustle with last minute final touches and the arrival of several vets and reenactors. 

The morning of Saturday the 27th outside the Canteen where Tirzah and Mommy worked the majority of the day.

Ian and I on the night of the 26th on Friday right before the movie.

Robert helped sell reproduction newspapers and Tirzah helped out in the Canteen.

A Family photo we took in front of the stage on one of those very few occasions that we were all free.

The camp on the morning of the 27th.

Veteran Don Jakeway speaks in front of the ever growing crowd of spectators. 

Veteran Jimmy Gentry was the first WWII vet to speak.

Tirzah and I had the wonderful chance to sing several songs in between these to veterans.

  UNMC Edgar Harrell told his story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis 

 After a lot of work it all came together from the lift gate to the sandbags the effect was complete.

Our group of boys manly the 82nd but we have two 101st stowaways in there. ;)

Medics to the rescue. If any of you are wondering almost 100 percent of their equipment is original.

Our boys reached the top of the court house and let the Nazis flag fall to the ground...

Replacing it with OLD GLORY

At 3:00 pm the last battle was over the guns were silenced, the crowd dispersed and it was time to start braking down, but for some of us the day wasn't over yet.

All the vets, volunteers and reenactors trekked to the Courter house to end the day with singing, a free dinner and some wonderful root beer floats. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

I must say that it took a lot of work to make it all pull through but it was worth it! 

Come see us next year for the thrill of your life, get your chance to hear first hand accounts from eyewitnesses, shake the hands of heroes and praise the name of God.

Ohio's WWII Reenactment

Ok so it has been way to long since I've written about our travels, and I'm so sorry to be bringing you up to date just now. 

But looking back at last year one of the fun memories that made me smile was a trip we took in August to the Ohio's D-Day Conneaut Reenactment! One of the biggest WWII reenactments in America.

The trip took one long day with bundles of fun, heaps of laughter and bunches of sweets.

At one of the many pit stops we took...

We're in Ohio!

The trip was exciting but we couldn't have expected what lay ahead. After meeting Thomas at our hotel and all spending a wonderful evening watching Ace Wonder we scampered to dress and hurried down the next morning to the camps of the Allies. 

I had many pictures in my head but let me say the very size of the camp and the many, many soldiers milling about surprised me to say the least. As we wandered about waiting for the battle to begin we met several vets, heard their stories and received autographs, which was exciting in itself. Although I honor all WWII vets, it was a dream come true to meet Pee Wee Martin, a paratrooper that jumped on D-Day.

Pee Wee Martin is the vet on the right. Unfortunately I was unable to get my picture with him as I was interviewing another vet at the time who was a part of bombing the Jap's oil supply. 

The Allied Camp

Tirzah and I riding an original DUKW that was actually there on D-Day!

The very large crowd of people watching as the battle begins.

The reenactment was amazing! The beach, set on Lake Erie, was the fighting ground for the battle. Soldiers landed on the beach on DUKWs and other amphibious vehicles. That steep hill you see in the picture (that is really as steep as it looks or steeper) played the part of Point de Hoc, and was mounted by the rangers. Fighter jets and a B-16 flew over the entire time the battle was ragging.  

A refurbished B-16 Bomber 

Landing the trops

After the battle we met more vets and got to talk to a few reenacters. I've heard several reenacters talk about that moment when everything comes to life. Well I got to experience that right before the battle when I was standing in the camp and the soldiers were headed out, the amount and perfect timing with which they walked was enough.

After a very long day and tired feet we trekked down to the beach to finish it off with some lovely photos and a beautiful sunset.

All in all it was one of the best things that happened last year and it's diffidently on our calendar for next year. Put it on yours! It's worth it!!!!

Dominion Focused Womanhood

      Some of you may have been wondering why I haven't posted so much lately. For a while now I've been considering starting my own blog. Well it's finally up and running! Check out my own personal blog here.

http://dominionfocusedwomanhood.blogspot.com/